In this demo debate, you will watch former Harvard-Westlake Debater Ben Sprung-Keyser '11 debate in the Final Round of the 2010 NFL National Championship. He is on the negative. Under the video you can see information about speech times & responsibilities.

The resolution they are debating is:

Resolved: Compulsory inclusion of non-felons' DNA in any government database is unjust.

Note: at the beginning of debate rounds, you don't say thank-yous. Only in the final rounds of really big tournaments. Like NFL Nationals.

Speech times / description:

First Affirmative Constructive Speech: 6 minutes. This speech is entirely prepared and read in the round.

Cross-Examination: 3 minutes. The negative debater asks questions.

Negative Constructive Speech: 7 minutes. In this speech the negative will present a negative case, which is pre-written, and then refute the affirmative case.

Cross-Examination: 3 minutes. The affirmative debater asks questions.

First Affirmative Rebuttal: 4 minutes. In this speech the affirmative will refute the negative's case and respond to the arguments the negative made against their own case. This is a rebuttal, so the debater may not bring up new arguments.

Negative Rebuttal: 6 minutes. In this speech the negative will refute the arguments made by the affirmative against their case and respond to the responses made by affirmative against the negative's attacks made in the Negative Constructive Speech. The debater should also synthesize arguments and "weigh" them against each other. This is a rebuttal, so the debater may not bring up new arguments.

Second Affirmative Rebuttal: 3 minutes. In this speech the affirmative needs to synthesize and weigh the arguments against each other. The speech is almost entirely summarizing. This is a rebuttal, so the debater may not bring up new arguments.

In addition to the time listed above, each debater is given a total of 4 minutes of preparation time that they can use before their speeches or cross-examination.